Gaming

Heroine Anthem Zero Is A Stunning Game With Amazing Storytelling

Heroine Anthem Zero Out Now On Steam

Heroine Anthem Zero is a 2D side-scrolling action RPG, the first of the classic Heroine Anthem series to be available overseas. Beginning in 2002, the series has been a pinnacle of storytelling for the Chinese gaming community. And now, 14 years after Heroine Anthem 2, Windthunder Studios has released an all-new episodic prequel, bringing fans back to the beautifully moving world of adventure from long ago.

The story begins with the last Cataclysm, with the descendants of the Savior rebuilding the land around the World Tree Terasyr. Thousands of years later the Engora Dynasty grows into prosperity, with Fae and Human together resisting the encroaching advances of evil from the edges of the world, and deathly Longhorn Woods.
As fate brings Wanin the Forest Keeper and the wandering cat-girl Shama Kutami together, the entangling web of destinies unfolds. In a world unforgiven by God, their fight for survival unknowingly bears the weight and sins of thousands of generations hereafter.

key Features

1. Available in English for the first time! Heroine Anthem Zero is the first game in the series to support English!

2. Featuring well-known Voice Actors in various languages, including Yūsuke Kobayashi (The Heroic Legend of Arslan) and Tomoka Wakabayashi (The iDOLM@STER)

3. Exquisitely detailed 2D visuals, bring the world of Heroine Anthem Zero to life with its vibrant characters and stunning world setting.

4. A hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, following in the tradition of the Heroine Anthem series: famous composers (known for their work in RPG classics such as Chinese Paladin series) as well as Japanese composers new to the series have joined forces to produce unforgettable music.

5. Diverse range of weapons and skills — Character progression is closely tied to the weapon and items in Heroine Anthem Zero, switching weapons changes damage and other attributes,as well as attack motions. Weapons can also interact with the stage levels.

“A steam user that goes by the handle ap3741 left an amazing detailed review on the games page that I thought was worth including.”

Heroine Anthem Zero is a 2D-sidescrolling ARPG. I tried hard to like the game and to support TW developers, and its evident they have put in alot of work:

– Music is fantastic.
– Artwork is aesthetically pleasing.
– Plot is interesting loosely based on Norse mythology, with humorous dialogues (I played in traditional chinese, not sure if any humor is lost in translation). English translation, from the limited amount I’ve seen, is also well done with no glaring mistakes.

However, outside of production values, the core game is unfortunately quite bland and inferior to other competitors in the genre.

– Unable to rebind keys. The default setup is functional but awkward. Not sure why an ARPG in 2016 would not allow key rebinding.
– Unable to change game resolution.
– Poor animation. When your wall jump animation is just the standing character sticking to the wall and looks rediculous when you do it multiple times to scale a wall.
– Poor mechanics. Or lack thereof. No blocking, rolling or parrying. No crouching, or sliding, or anything that you may find in any decent platformer. No attack combos. Only 1 special attack for your companion fairy and slots for passives.
– No feel/soul. Your attacks have no weight. You wave your sword around like a fly swatter. There is no pause in attack animation or zoom-in to represent weight or impact. No flashing damage numbers, no boss health bars, nothing. This is basic game design, yet somehow escaped developer’s memo. Combat is made even worse by the terrible sound effects. Yes the music is fantastic, but the sound effects are terrible. There are better sound assets found in RPGmaker.
– Voice acting in Chinese is very lifeless. Thankfully you can switch to Japanese.
– If you skip a pre-boss cutscene, the boss can hit you before you regain control of the character.

Ultimately, I’m going to recommend the game becuase at its price point, what you do get is good music, decent story, sometimes funny dialogue, some fan service (the game is 18+ but mild), and serviceable (albeit uninspired) gameplay.

For fans of this genre, I would first take a looke ar Rabi-rabi and Salt & Sanctuary before I consider this title.